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Distance, Displacement, Speed, and Velocity

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Jessa Mea Camerio

1) Distance is how far an object travels and does not depend on direction. Displacement is the difference between an object's final and initial positions and depends on direction. 2) Speed is the rate at which an object is moving and does not depend on direction. Velocity is speed with direction. 3) Scalar quantities like distance and speed only have magnitude, while vector quantities like displacement and velocity have both magnitude and direction.

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Distance, Displacement, Speed, and Velocity

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Jessa Mea Camerio
247 views20 pages
1) Distance is how far an object travels and does not depend on direction. Displacement is the difference between an object's final and initial positions and depends on direction. 2) Speed is the rate at which an object is moving and does not depend on direction. Velocity is speed with direction. 3) Scalar quantities like distance and speed only have magnitude, while vector quantities like displacement and velocity have both magnitude and direction.

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Distance, Displacement, Speed and Velocity

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1) Distance is how far an object travels and does not depend on direction. Displacement is the difference between an object's final and initial positions and depends on direction. 2) Speed is the rate at which an object is moving and does not depend on direction. Velocity is speed with direction. 3) Scalar quantities like distance and speed only have magnitude, while vector quantities like displacement and velocity have both magnitude and direction.

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247 views20 pages

Distance, Displacement, Speed, and Velocity

Uploaded by

Jessa Mea Camerio
1) Distance is how far an object travels and does not depend on direction. Displacement is the difference between an object's final and initial positions and depends on direction. 2) Speed is the rate at which an object is moving and does not depend on direction. Velocity is speed with direction. 3) Scalar quantities like distance and speed only have magnitude, while vector quantities like displacement and velocity have both magnitude and direction.

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Distance, Displacement, Speed, and Velocity

Questions for Consideration


 What is frame of reference?
 What is distance?
 How is displacement different from
distance?
 What is speed?
 What is velocity?
 What are scalar and vector quantities?
Frame of Reference
 Coordinate frame within which to measure
position, motion, or other properties of an
object.
 OR...
 Observational frame tied to the motion of
an observer.
 In Newtonian physics, all motion must be
defined in terms of a reference frame.
 Relative Motion
Reference Frame
 Is the speed of the ball different relative to the
pitcher, the truck driver, and the jet pilot? Why
or why not?
Distance
 Distance (d) – how far an object travels.
 Does not depend on direction.
 Imagine an ant crawling along a ruler.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 What distance did the ant travel?


 d = 3 cm
Distance
 Distance does not depend on direction.
 Here’s our intrepid ant explorer again.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 Now what distance did the ant travel?


 d = 3 cm
 Does his direction change the answer?
Distance
 Distance does not depend on direction.
 Let’s follow the ant again.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 What distance did the ant walk this time?


 d = 7 cm
Displacement
 Displacement (x) – difference between an object’s
final position and its starting position.
 Does depend on direction.
 Displacement = final position – initial position
 x = xfinal – xinitial
 In order to define displacement, we need directions.
 Examples of directions:
 + and –
 N, S, E, W
 Angles
Displacement vs. Distance
 Example of distance:
 The ant walked 3 cm.
 Example of displacement:
 The ant walked 3 cm EAST.
 An object’s distance traveled and its
displacement aren’t always the same!
Displacement
 Let’s revisit our ant, and this time we’ll find
his displacement.
- +

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 Distance: 3 cm
 Displacement: +3 cm
 The positive gives the ant a direction!
Displacement
 Find the ant’s displacement again.
 Remember, displacement has direction!

- +

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 Distance: 3 cm
 Displacement: -3 cm
Displacement
 Find the distance and displacement of the
ant.
- +

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 Distance: 7 cm
 Displacement: +3 cm
Displacement vs. Distance
 An athlete runs around a track that is 100 meters
long three times, then stops.
 What is the athlete’s distance and displacement?

 Distance = 300 m
 Displacement = 0 m
 Why?
Speed
 Speed (s) – Rate at which an object is
moving.
 speed = distance / time
 s = d/t
 Like distance, speed does not depend on
direction.
Speed
 A car drives 100 meters in 5 seconds.
1s
2
3
4
5
100 m

 What is the car’s average speed?


 s = d/t
 s = (100 m) / (5 s) = 20 m/s
Speed
 A rocket is traveling at 10 km/s. How long does it
take the rocket to travel 30 km?
Speed
 A racecar is traveling at 85.0 m/s. How far
does the car travel in 30.0 s?
Velocity
 Velocity (v) – speed with direction.
 velocity = displacement / time
 v = x / t
Pulling It All Together
 Back to our ant explorer!
1s
2
3
4
5 - +

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 Distance traveled: 7 cm
 Displacement: +3 cm
 Average speed: (7 cm) / (5 s) = 1.4 cm/s
 Average velocity: (+3 cm) / (5 s) = +0.6 cm/s
Scalar and Vector Quantities
 Scalar Quantity – has magnitude but not
direction.
 Distance and speed are scalar quantities.
 Vector Quantity – has magnitude and
direction.
 Displacement and velocity are vector
quantities.

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